Metropolitan Opera Announces Cast Change Advisory For CARMEN

DWayne Croft will make his Met role debut as Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen on Saturday, May 1 at 8:30 p.m., replacing Mariusz Kwiecien, who is ill.

Escamillo marks the 30th role DWayne Croft has sung in his Met career. Next season, Croft sings Donner for the first time with the company in Robert Lepage's new production of Wagner's Das Rheingold, which opens the Met's 2010-11 season with James Levine conducting. Croft sang Peter in Hansel and Gretel earlier this season, and during the 2008-09 season, he appeared as Lescaut in Act III of Manon in the Opening Night Gala and as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly; both seen live in HD. He portrayed Nick Carraway in the 1999 world premiere of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby and Ernesto in the Met premiere of Bellini's Il Pirata (2002). He has sung in many new production premieres, including Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande (1995), De Siriex in Fedora (1996), Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (1998), and Chorèbe in Les Troyens (2003).

Carmen, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, stars Kate Aldrich in the title role, Jonas Kaufmann as Don José, and Maija Kovalevska as Micaëla. The production, which premiered earlier this season to critical and public acclaim, is by Richard Eyre.